The game graphic is outdated, controls are rigid and voice acting is not the best but the game does so many things better then modern games.
NPCs are jerks, they are convicts, the old camp structure is one of strength, the weakest are the miners, the thieves are low in the hierarchy and the most powerful are on the top having most of the ore and women. This makes sense to me, is immersive.
The environment is a sand box but area limits are mostly dictated by monster difficulty. Hints are given by people rather then pop-ups. The map is an actual map. Menus are minimalistic, I do not like the full window modern menus we have now. The weather, light and sounds makes it feel gloomy as opposed to modern day games that have this very colorful theme/ filter.
Dialogue felt cold, this is a great thing, I do not expect a random guy that I've just met have a personal/ emotional reaction to me.
No pop-up to let me know what I should loot or where I should go.
No random drops, I do not like the way a lot of looting works in modern games. I think Witcher 2 and Gothic did it better by having weapons and armor tied to specific quests or fights rather then random drop like they did in Witcher 3.
Progression is more authentic, you get a new armor, put points in to weapons and then you get to explore different areas. You feel incredibly weak at the start but then you feel growing stronger in meaningful steps.
There is a static nature of the sand box, things are somewhat calm until you show up and this allows the player to explore this interesting setting and understand how the society works before you mess everything up. Things would have blown up regardless of your presence but I enjoyed the societal aspect of the game and the fact that the game allows you to explore that. There is no pressure on the player to act other then adapt to the new situation. Only later in the game it starts to become critical to act.
Overall I liked this game a lot, it was one of my favorite games when I was in school. Maybe is just nostalgia glasses but I wanted to rant a bit on things that old games did better.
Maybe we could use a game club for older games where we could discuss classic old games like Gothic, KOTOR, Jedi Outcast, Baldurs Gate, Witcher.
You’re describing, in a roundabout way, the insidious impact of “UX” design on video games. Thinking about every aspect of the game world from the perspective of (and with total deference to) the player has resulted in games that feel extremely artificial. Nothing feels real or organic because everything is centered around you.
When a game is built from the ground up for authenticity, with design choices that are frequently apathetic or even hostile to the user, then things start to feel real - like the game world existed before you got there and will carry on when you’re gone. And it’s hard to put into words how transformative that immersion is for the player.
A lot of Fromsoft games embody this rejection of modern UX design, and those games resonate with players in ways that virtually any other modern AAA game does not. The cruel and uncaring game world isn’t the only way to build immersion, but it does seem to lend itself to the task.
That is a great point and described a lot better then I could. The world feels much more authentic.
It is not perfect but it is way more immersive then modern "UX" design.